Related:Death toll rises to 52 as riots hit Brazil's streets, jails ¡¡ ¡¡

    BEIJING, May 15 (Xinhuanet) -- At least 52 people have been killed in prison riots,  agitated by criminal gang members, in the Sao Paulo state, Brazil, authorities said.

Policemen bust two gang members on the street in Sao Paulo, on May 14. (Xinhua Photo)

    The dead include 35 security personnel -- police and prison guards -- three civilians, and 14 suspected gang members, according the Sao Paulo state government.

    The death toll was the combined results of a wave of attacks against police stations in greater Sao Paulo and uprisings in 64 jails across Sao Paulo state at the weekend. 

    The notorious First Capital Command gang - known by its Portuguese initials PCC - has been blamed for behind in what oficials describe as the deadliest in the country's history.

    Enio Lucciola, spokesman for the Sao Paulo State Public Safety Department, said the attacks and prison rebellions, "were the most vicious and deadliest attacks on public security forces that have ever taken place in Brazil."

    The violence began Friday evening when police decided to move 700 criminal gang members to high security jails. By Sunday evening there were reports of at least 100 separate attacks outside of the prisons, conducted with machine guns and grenades, that continued until dawn.

    The PCC formed in the early 1990s as a prison gang and has grown into a major criminal enterprise, conducting such actions as bank robbery, drug trafficking, kidnapping and arms trafficking.

    More than 229 people have also been captured by prisoners and are being held hostage. Enditem